Occupy’s law of entropy

Arun Gupta: It was not – and still is not – able to negotiate between conflicting rights. Occupy’s child-like view of politics – how consensus and participatory democracy will free the angels within every one of us – was a big reason for its success because it offered a palpable alternative to our cynical, acquisitive society. Yet it apparently hasn’t dawned on the hive mind that it is impossible to satisfy all rights, every time, everywhere.

It follows that democracy is not just about compromise; it’s also about conflict. Politics is about picking winners and losers according to higher principles like justice and equality. Occupy is still present in campaigns, from labor and immigrant solidarity to home foreclosure defense, student debt and the environment. But, for the idealistic core of Occupy, its original flowering was like a Fourth of July firework display: something dramatic and beautiful, but ultimately ephemeral.